Old people catching fish after a group of citizens releasing the fish. Screenshot of Feidian video

Some citizens planned to release fish for free on the banks of the Hanhe River in Xiangyang, Central China's Hubei Province, on Sunday. However, just as they were leaving the bank, another group arrived with fishing materials to catch the fish. 

According to some witnesses, when the fish was being released into the river, a group of old people were waiting to start fishing. 

Netizens have been debating on whether what the old people did was right. "They should not have done this. That is not a good example for teaching our children to care for animals," one netizen said.

But another group of netizens argued that there is no contradiction between releasing the fish and eating the fish. "That is part of the nature. Releasing fish is more of a spiritual comfort, while eating fish is the basic requirement of some people," some said.